Leakers

WASHINGTON (AP) -- White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove told President Bush and others that he never engaged in an effort to disclose a CIA operative's identity to discredit her husband's criticism of the administration's Iraq policy, according to people with knowledge of Rove's account in the investigation.

They said Rove's denial to Bush occurred during a brief conversation in July 2003, shortly after media reports revealed that former Ambassador Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie Plame, worked as a covert CIA operative.

Those with direct knowledge of evidence gathered in the criminal investigation spoke to The Associated Press only on condition of anonymity because of grand jury secrecy.

The irony:

An article about leaking relies on leakers for information.

Rove is slated to testify before the grand jury soon for a fourth time, although prosecutors have told him they no longer can assure he will avoid indictment. Rove offered in July to return to the grand jury for additional testimony, and Fitzgerald accepted that offer after taking grand jury testimony from the formerly jailed New York Times reporter Judith Miller.

The discussion with Bush, along with others, was general and did not get into specifics concerning Rove's contacts with two reporters, Time magazine's Matthew Cooper and syndicated columnist Robert Novak, who wrote stories identifying Plame, the people familiar with Rove's account said.

They said Bush asked Rove to assure him he was not involved in an effort to divulge Plame's identity and punish Wilson, and the longtime confidant assured him so. He answered similarly when White House press secretary Scott McClellan asked a similar question.

...Rove has told a grand jury he first learned of Plame's work for the CIA from news reporters and then discussed it with Novak and Cooper.

"Did Karl purposely set out to disclose Valerie Plame's identity in order to punish Joe Wilson for his criticism? The answer is, 'No,"' Luskin said. "That was his answer in July 2003 and in October 2003 (when he first testified) And it remains his answer today."

An Associated Press article from July stated:

Wilson kept up his criticism of the White House, saying Thursday that Rove's conduct was an "outrageous abuse of power ... certainly worthy of frog-marching out of the White House."

Federal law prohibits government officials from divulging the identity of an undercover intelligence officer. But prosecutors must prove the leaking official knew the officer was covert and knowingly outed his or her identity. One of the questions that still remains is exactly what status Plame had at the time of the leak; many reports say she had a desk job at CIA headquarters in Langley, Va., at the time.

Wilson on Thursday acknowledged his wife was no longer in an undercover job at the time Novak's column first identified her.

"My wife was not a clandestine officer the day that Bob Novak blew her identity," he said.

If Plame wasn't a covert agent, how could she be outed, by anyone?

Putting the Karl Rove matter aside, and speaking in general terms, I must say that I have no respect for leakers.

It is SO low when an individual trusted with information chooses to abuse the knowledge by inappropriately disclosing information to a third party.

I think leakers should be held accountable for their violations and the resulting damages.

Right is right.